Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht addressed the demise of the idea today during a quick Q&A at the Television Critics Association press tour, taking place through Aug. 7 in Los Angeles. ”We tried to make that happen but Farhad [Sarfina, the show’s creator] didn’t see it in his head. So he wasn’t going to be able to come up with a way to do that and there was no way we were going to proceed without him.”

Meanwhile, there’s much happier news for Black Sails, which got a second season pick up before the first season even premieres. Albrecht explained the early vote of confidence, saying, “We love this show, so it was definitely the strength of what we saw, our realization that time is a real resource when it comes to making these shows, and I think the Comic-Con reaction certainly reenforced what we knew ourselves.” The first season of the Michael Bay-produced series premieres in January.

Currently unclear is whether or not Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Magic City will be scoring a third season, but Albrecht said its fate will become clearer as the second season closes out. ”There are lots of surprises left in the last three episodes of Magic City and I think all will be revealed as those air,” he said. “We’re fans of the show….We’re now evaluating all the options but as I said, we have a couple of little surprises in our pocket in store. I can’t reveal too much other than you’ll have the answer to your question soon.”

Looking toward the future, Albrecht said the network’s upcoming slate of shows will lean away from period pieces, joking, ”We will be focusing on contemporary since most costume shops are running out of swords and sandals.”